Puna fatality 01-26-07

MEDIA RELEASE

A 19-year-old Pahoa man died Thursday (January 25) from injuries he sustained in a one-car crash at the intersection of Route 130 and Pohaku Place in Keaau.

The victim was identified as Champie K.S. Choy Foo of Pahoa.

Responding to a 3:07 a.m. call, Puna patrol officers determined that the victim was driving south on Route 130 (Keaau/Pahoa Road) in a 2000 Honda 2-door sedan when the car ran off the road and struck a rock embankment.

Fire rescue personnel took both the driver and the passenger, a 22-year-old Pahoa man, to Hilo Medical Center. Both men were later flown to the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu in critical condition.

It is unknown at this time if speed or alcohol were factors or whether the driver was wearing a seatbelt.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a coroner’s inquest case and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

This is the third traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with two at this time last year.